Electric translating apparatus.



P. C. HEWITT.

ELECTRIC TRANSLATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 16. I918.

1,286,882. Patentd Dec. 3, 1918.

SOURCE OF VARIATION SOURCE VARIATION WITNESS STATES IIATENT OFFICE.

rntrrm coorEB. HEWITT, or mnewoon-maivomnnw JERSEY.

ELECTRIC 'rnAnsLA'rmc- APPARATUS.

Continuation in part of application Serial No. 796,167, filed October 20 16, 1918'. Serial No. 228,839.

7 are insulated from each other with respect to thecontainer and wherein a gas or vapor of suitable character and density is adapted to pass current between the electrodes under the application .of electrical potential to the electrodes,-there' is what may be called a current-passing state existing at the nega-f tiv electrode before the"final broken-down state is reached. By'* the broken-down state, I mean the final low. resistance state where theycurrent enters the'negative electrade at a spot with a flame projecting from it; The current-passingstate occurs at low voltage and, in "certain instances, capable of passing considerable current without breaking down or reducing .the negative electrode resistance to the final state, that is'to say, without-bringing about.

the final state where the flame appears. This state before the final state I will call the leakage state. I make, use of this property of gas or vapor apparatus in carrying out the present invention, which is designed to' pass current through such an apparatus at a definite low voltage. The present inven tion is designed toco'nstitute an improvement on the invention set forth in my United States Patents Nos. 690,952, and 690,953, both issued on January 14th, 1902. In the patents referred to, ,one. of which has apparatus claims andthe other method claims, I have mentioned the use. of attenuated ni- A trogen as the gas within the. container andhave'said that with iron electrodes separated a distance of about one and one-half inches, the lamp may be started with a. direct cur rent having a pressure of 750 volts, or less. By means -of the. present inventionIam able to reducethe necessary voltage for passing current to a. far lower limit, aswill be stated further on in'the present specification.

The invention will be, understood by referring to the accompanying drawings, Figures 1, 2 and 3 representing difi'erent embodi ments of my invention.

Specification ofLetters. Patent.

.1913. This application filed April Patented Dec. 3, 1918. j

A simple illustration ofmy invention is shown in Fig. 1 as comprising a tube, 1,-

--of glass, .electrodes, 2 and 3, preferably of metal and may be of very-high melting point such as tungsten, and lead wires, 4:

- electrical supply; Within the-container, 1

and 5, connected with a suitable source, 6, of-

I -inclos e a quantiy of boronfluorid, of'suitelectrodes.

able quantity and density or of other gas havingithe desired electrical characteristics with respect to the electrodes for starting the passage of current through the lamp or container ata definite low voltage,

I have used-boron fluorid in a lamp of the 2 character described .and have started the same at a pressure of 40 volts. Helium may also be employedand will start on a pressure of say 100 to 200. volts and nitrogen will-pass current at 750 voltsand less.

Care should be taken in the manufacture of the electrodes. In the case of boron fluorid, as an example, the electrodes may be of platinum and I may employ electrodes whose resistance may represent a drop of'35 volts, or less, with a five volt drop, more'or less, in thegas between them, when the containing tube is a short one. By lengthening thegas colunm for special purposes, as, for instance,

for use as a lamphaving a required pressure of 65 to 100 volts to-pass therequired cur rent, useful lighting maybe obtained; but other purposes'wherefor the resistance in the gas or vapor is useful may be served by providing suitable length for the gas or vapor column.

The negative electrode resistance may act as a 'steadying resistance for the device, say 25 per cent. leakage resistance at the negative, 10 per cent. at the positive and 65 per cent. vapor resistance.- .The resistance may be, -varied-by the material and surface of the I electrodes which ,varies the respective-re sistances at them. and the vapor resistance may begoverned by the distance between the.

' 'The desired variations may be provided for by varying the electrodes as compared with each other in respect to size and temperature and, also, by varying the density of the gas of vapor. The temperature of an electrode passing current is greater with larger current and .with the same. current with diminished surface area and the electrodes may be used as a source of lightsolely by constructing. them of suitable thinness and surface area. In this way energy otherwise a loss so far as light is concerned may be made useful as light yielding by means of the electrode reactions. I V

A translating device of the character described above is useful in the arts where the properties of a conducting gas or'vapor are desirable, either alone or in connection with electromagnetic or'electrostatic efiects, particularly when used for affecting the electromotlve force required to pass current as the dev ce 1s extremely sensitive to such action,

and responds with great rapidity.

In Fig. 2 I have shown an arrangement for-subjecting the device to electrical stresses produced by a magnet, 7 connected with a sourceof current, 8, and a source of var1a-= tlon, 9. This arrangement is simllar to the well-known arrangements shown in the drawings of my prior Patents 749,792 dated January 19th, 1904 and 991,304, dated May 1 In Fig. 3 is shown an arrangement for affecting the device-with electrical stresses produced electrostatically. ,In this embodiment, an electrostatic device for internally affecting the tubeis shown at 10, being similar to the device 5 of my prior Patent 1,121.359, dated December 15th, 1914, and the said device 10 is substituted for the electromagnet 7 of the arrangement of Fig. 2.

I claim as my invention:

The combination with an air-tight tube having inclosed therein a negative electrode 'and a conducting gas giving a relatively low electrode voltage at said negative, of a source of electric current for passing electricity against the negative electrode resistance of the tube, and electrostatic means for-controlling the negative electrode resistance thereof.

Signed at New York and State of New. York this 11th day of .April, A. D. 1918.

PETER COOPER HEWITT. Witness:

Tnos. H. Brown.

New "York in the county of 

